Did you get the call asking for your opinion on the future of recycling in the Sunshine Coast Regional District this past week? If so, did you take that time to answer the survey questions?
I hope you did on both accounts because it's not so common for residents in a local government's jurisdiction to be consulted so directly when it comes to shaping future policy.
That and after a year and a half of reporting on the Sunshine Coast, there is no issue that I have covered more than that of recycling and solid waste management and I'm eager to see a solution that satisfies, if not all, then most.
Drastically cutting down on the amount of recyclable materials that wind up in the landfill would be a bonus too.
From May 7 to May 28, we ran our feature Recycle Redux Report and let me tell you, it was an undertaking. I was routinely putting in long days during that time, going over hours of interview tape and notes, photos and documents. With most any story, only a small portion of the quotes and content from an interview will make it into the final print edition. With longer, more in-depth pieces, that margin grows even wider, so there is a lot of stuff I would like to have included, but simply didn't have the time or space.
One of the most interesting things I learned during my research was the notion of extended producer responsibility (EPR) -the concept of putting the onus on manufacturers to make sure their products stay out of the waste stream. It took me at least two lengthy interviews to get my head around it and probably because it flies in the face of decades of being told we must be responsible for our own waste.
But something else became apparent to me while writing about EPR. While SCRD directors, staff and the public continue to pull their hair out trying to find a solution for the Coast's residential recycling, the much larger commercial/industrial recycling scene is largely ignored.
It's like arguing over how to handle a drip from the ceiling while floodwaters are filling the basement. While there aren't really any tools to track how much small business waste is made up of recyclables, it's safe to say it's a fair amount and more than a typical home.
Local governments don't really have the power to demand local businesses get their recyclable waste to a responsible recycler. What they can do is offer education, which is fine and necessary, but it takes willing co-operation and may only get you part of the way there. Local governments can up tipping fees or put disposal bans on certain items from the landfill, but that puts the onus on the waste hauler to deal with it, not the business that is throwing it out to begin with.
I'm not going to name names because there are probably more offenders than can fit in this space and, conversely, there are businesses that have higher standards for recycling than many residents. But as almost every source in the recycling feature told me, whether they were recycling contractors, civil servants or recycling advocates, consumers have the power to demand better.
If you find yourself in a business or café that sells recyclable goods or goods in recyclable packaging and offers a garbage container, but no recycling bins, tell the manager you'd like to at least have a chance to see the goods get recycled.
There's been so much attention on how we, the individuals, keep our recyclables out of the landfill, we're forgetting to make sure our local businesses are on the same (recyclable) page.
